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Granderson's struggles prompt lineup tweaks

Granderson's struggles prompt lineup tweaks

DETROIT -- With a nod toward Curtis Granderson's recent slump at the plate, Yankees manager Joe Girardi shuffled his lineup on Wednesday, dropping the center fielder to sixth in the batting order.

Derek Jeter returned to the leadoff spot, with Nick Swisher batting second against Tigers right-hander Anibal Sanchez. Granderson was hitless in his last 11 at-bats and had four hits in his last 25 trips to the plate.

"Grandy's been struggling a little bit, so we just moved him down to sixth," Girardi said. "We've had some other guys swinging the bat pretty well. We'll just change it up a little bit."

Granderson said after his 0-for-5 performance on Tuesday that his swings feel a tick off.

"If you're not hitting, you're not hitting. It doesn't matter where you happen to be batting," Granderson said. "[I'm] just not putting the ball in play the way I want to; getting pitches to hit, not being able to square them up. [I'm] fouling a lot of balls off -- just got to figure out the reason why."

Girardi said that he does not know if the move to the leadoff spot played a part in Granderson's slump. While Granderson hasn't led off much as a Yankee, it was his primary spot in the order during his Tigers career.

"I mean, he's hit first plenty in his career," Girardi said. "It's not something that was foreign to him, and the second half, he [has] struggled. It wasn't just when we moved him to first the last five or six days."